Engineering Consequences of changing Traffic Flows on Minor Rural Roads in a developing Multifunctional European Countryside

Multifunctional agriculture (MFA) is a leading catchword in European agricultural policy. This paper aims to investigate expanding traffic flows arising from new activities connected with agricultural business, such as on-farm sales of products, care-farming, and agritourism. These activities put an extra burden on the road network additional to flows generated by traditional agricultural activities. Additional volumes can be estimated from general data and depend on the scale of facilities, for example 1.8 vehicle trips per weekday for 1 room in a B&B. The capacity of minor rural roads to bear this extra burden is questionable. To avoid damage to road and/or verge minor roads’ capacity limits must be respected. For good engineering solutions we advise careful spatial planning, taking into account road capacity.